Some cold hard truths about doing online sex work:

-The vast majority of people who follow you on social media are only mildly interested in you. They won’t notice most of what you put out there, and they won’t subscribe to your content or pay for your services.

-Your content can be leaked. You should probably expect this to happen and try to prepare for it. Even if you think you are emotionally prepared for this to happen, you’re probably not. You’ll just have to do your best to process your feelings about it and get support.

-Talking to customers can be very draining and upsetting. Many of them want and expect you to understand their very specific sexual fantasies and will get annoyed if you don’t cater to them.

-Some of your customers will tell you about how depressed and suicidal they feel all the time. They will bring it up again and again and ignore your suggestions to seek out counselling.

-You will get hate mail and receive lots of mean comments about your body, face, and personality. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like or what your personality is like. You will have to find a way to not take this personally or be hurt by it.

-The platform you work on could be shut down at any moment without notice. Knowing this will encourage a scarcity mindset that leads to overwork and burn out, because you will see other platforms get shut down and start to think, “I better make this money while I still can.”

-The stigma of doing online sex work is MUCH less than doing in person sex work. But the stigma is still there. It can be difficult to tell new people about your job. It can be difficult to talk to your friends and family about your job.

-Most people in the general public (including your customers) will think your job is easy. They think if you put a nude on the internet, you will make thousands of dollars. They think this despite the fact that millions of pornographic photos and videos are available for free.

-Most people in the general public (including your customers) will assume you don’t have any skills or talents outside of sex work. And since they don’t have a high opinion of sex work, they will look down on you for being “just” a sex worker. They won’t see you as an equal.

-If you try to talk about your skills and accomplishments outside of sex work, people will assume you are ashamed of being a sex worker. If you don’t talk about your other talents and strengths, people will assume you don’t have any.

-A lot of forces larger and stronger than you are working against you. It is difficult to interact with government agencies and banks. It is difficult to rent an apartment, adopt a child, or even adopt a pet, due to the stigma of your job.

-When you talk openly about the challenges you face, people in the general public (including your customers) will say “get another job then!” They don’t understand that stigma follows you forever. Sex work will always be a part of your life because it is a part of your history.

-Many people will not understand that even given the challenges and frustrations of the job, sex work may still be your best option. They will try to encourage you to leave and do something else. Something you know doesn’t suit your specific needs.

-You will look around and see media stories everywhere of ordinary people becoming millionaires from doing online sex work. You may start to wonder what you’re doing wrong, since the media narrative doesn’t fit your experience.

-You will know when you need a break, but you won’t know how to take it. Even taking three days off makes your income plummet. Your customers only support you when you are actively marketing to them and selling to them. You’re not sure what the solution to this is.

-You will worry that you are being “negative” when you voice your concerns about this industry, when in reality, you are actually trying really hard to think things through in the hopes of figuring out a solution to the obstacles you face in this particular line of work.